FAQ
What made you want to write as well as edit children's books?
I'd been editing for several years and had a nagging question in my head: 'How can you help other authors, if you don't know how to write yourself?' I decided I wanted to find out the answer to this question and thought back to my own childhood. What had been some of the most exciting events in my life? The school plays! Immediately, I began to write a novel based on a play my school put on. If you look on the front cover of 'Starring Me As Third Donkey' you can even see the name of the school I went to: Old Hall School.
Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?
As a child I was doing lots of things that made me a writer-in-waiting. I would write plays on my toy typewriter and force my sisters and friends to stage them. I read ghost stories and then tried to compose some of my own. I wrote a poem about my sister, Mandy, that she still has. I always spent far too long on the stories that I wrote in lessons at school. The best editing advice I've ever had came from a teacher who told me, 'Don't spend so long on the beginning, Karen. Get to the meat of the story.' I didn't know it back then, but I was learning to be a writer. I'm still learning today.
What are your writing tips?
Read as much as you can, and write regularly. With such busy lives, it's easy for all of us to find reasons not to sit at the desk in our spare time. Try to be disciplined. Start a story and see it through to the end. Getting to the end of a first draft gives you a great sense of accomplishment and then you can begin to revise and polish. Lots of people say they want to be a writer. Only one person can make that wish become a reality - you. Even when you think the writing isn't very good - and we all think this about our writing sometimes! - at least you're writing and learning. No one can take that away from you.
Where are the best places to read?
In the bath, until your skin wrinkles and the water goes cold.
In a tent, with a torch.
Lying on the floor, next to a warm radiator.
On the sofa, with a blanket over your knees.
Best of all - in bed, just before going to sleep!
I'd been editing for several years and had a nagging question in my head: 'How can you help other authors, if you don't know how to write yourself?' I decided I wanted to find out the answer to this question and thought back to my own childhood. What had been some of the most exciting events in my life? The school plays! Immediately, I began to write a novel based on a play my school put on. If you look on the front cover of 'Starring Me As Third Donkey' you can even see the name of the school I went to: Old Hall School.
Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?
As a child I was doing lots of things that made me a writer-in-waiting. I would write plays on my toy typewriter and force my sisters and friends to stage them. I read ghost stories and then tried to compose some of my own. I wrote a poem about my sister, Mandy, that she still has. I always spent far too long on the stories that I wrote in lessons at school. The best editing advice I've ever had came from a teacher who told me, 'Don't spend so long on the beginning, Karen. Get to the meat of the story.' I didn't know it back then, but I was learning to be a writer. I'm still learning today.
What are your writing tips?
Read as much as you can, and write regularly. With such busy lives, it's easy for all of us to find reasons not to sit at the desk in our spare time. Try to be disciplined. Start a story and see it through to the end. Getting to the end of a first draft gives you a great sense of accomplishment and then you can begin to revise and polish. Lots of people say they want to be a writer. Only one person can make that wish become a reality - you. Even when you think the writing isn't very good - and we all think this about our writing sometimes! - at least you're writing and learning. No one can take that away from you.
Where are the best places to read?
In the bath, until your skin wrinkles and the water goes cold.
In a tent, with a torch.
Lying on the floor, next to a warm radiator.
On the sofa, with a blanket over your knees.
Best of all - in bed, just before going to sleep!
